"Dragon Ball Z: Doragon bôru zetto" (1989) TV series 1989-1996

Director:

Minoru Okazaki

Writers:

Katsuyuki Sumizawa (writer)
Akira Toriyama (story)

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | unknown

Release Date:

26 April 1989 (Japan)

Genre:

Animation | Action | Adventure | Comedy | Fantasy | Thriller

Tagline:

Seven for a wish.

Plot:

Five years after the end of "Dragonball", Son Gokû reunites with his friends, bringing along his four-year old son Gohan...

Plot Keywords:

Warrior | Fight | Bittersweet | Super Power | Reincarnation

Cast

Jôji Yanami	...	Narrator / ... (291 episodes, 1989-1996)
Masako Nozawa	...	Son Gokû / ... (290 episodes, 1989-1996)
Mayumi Tanaka	...	Kuririn / ... (243 episodes, 1989-1996)
Ryô Horikawa	...	Vegeta (219 episodes, 1989-1996)
Toshio Furukawa	...	Piccolo (207 episodes, 1989-1996)
Hiromi Tsuru	...	Bulma (181 episodes, 1989-1996)
Takeshi Kusao	...	Trunks / ... (144 episodes, 1989-1996)
Daisuke Gôri	...	Mister Satan / ... (129 episodes, 1989-1996)
Naoko Watanabe	...	Chi-Chi / ... (121 episodes, 1989-1996)

Runtime:

25 min (291 episodes)

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Australia:M (some episodes) | Australia:PG (some episodes) | Brazil:12 | Brazil:Livre (cut) | USA:TV-Y7 (cut US version) | West Germany:12 | USA:TV-PG (uncut US version)

Company:

Bird Studios

Trivia:

Vegeta is older than Goku. This is identifiable by the fact that Vegeta was a fairly well-developed young warrior around age 5-6, and Goku was just born at this very time.

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: The original Pioneer/Saban dub got Vegeta's artificial moonlight explanation horribly wrong. Vegeta tells Goku that Bardock was a scientist and developed the technique. This is wrong; Bardock was a very strong lower-class warrior who was obviously no scientist. Note that FUNimation has long since redubbed the early episodes, and this inaccurate quote has long since been replaced with a fairly accurate description of the phenomenon.

Quotes:

Frieza: [after blowing up Krillin] Pop goes the weasel!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Friends with Money (2006)

Soundtrack:

Bokutachi wa Tenshi Datta

What Can Be Said about This Show?

I mean it is awesome.

This anime is based on the later part of the Dragon Ball manga written by the insanely talented Akira Toriyama. It is the follow on from the incredible Dragon Ball anime. (see review on my comments page)Set 5 years after the battle against Piccolo, Son Goku is living peacefully. But in the Dragon Ball universe peace is never lasting. Pretty soon the past he didn't even know he had escaped from catches up from him leading to a series of epic battles.

The series goes across four main sagas- Saiyan, Freeza, Cell and Majin Boo. It takes place over a time span of about 27 years, which is pretty cool, and something you rarely get to see in a show like this. You get to see the characters grow up and change. Some character you will like a lot more by the time the series is finished. It contains some of the most likable characters of all time. I don't see how anyone could not like Son Goku. Or Son Gohan. Of course almost all of the old characters return in this series, although most have smaller roles. But most of them still get a chance at some action in at least one part. Piccolo and Kuririn still have fairly large roles, in the first half of the series at least. Yamucha and Tenshinhan have a lot less to do in the series, and Chaozu doesn't play much of a role at all. The villains are awesome. Vegeta is an awesome and well rounded character, Freeza may be one of the most memorable villains around, Cell is awesome just because of the basis of his character, and Boo.... well Boo is just the ultimate killing machine.

The series is really different from the first series. Dragon Ball focused more on humour and martial arts, this focuses more on powerful ki blasts, hardcore action and ridiculously powerful character. It will never be the most challenging series around, but it is still a whole lot of fun. Great action scenes, really cool transformations, and a bunch of alien races. What more can you really ask for? The show spans for 291 Episodes, 13 movies and 2 TV specials. And you will still be sad when it ends.

The Dragon Ball Z movies can be seen as separate stories, as most do not fit into the timeline of the series well. Also, you will find some of the material in the anime doesn't fit in very well. For the most part, this is because it is filler material that wasn't in the original manga. An example of filler is the Garlic Jr. Saga, which was put in after the Freeza saga and is a sequel of sorts to the first movie. The movies and filler are sometimes not as good as the stuff taken from the original manga, but that's not to say it isn't enjoyable. Some of the movies are pretty cool with villains like Brolli and Cooler. So I would recommend you check them out.

As with Dragon Ball, there is not much to say about the animation, although by the end it had improved a fair bit. It is drawn well, and is nice to watch. The characters all have their charms in terms of the way they are designed. The music of the series is nothing spectacular either, although I like the theme songs to the series a whole lot.

This is the show that, along with Evangelion: Neon Genesis, helped me get into anime, way back when I was just a dumb kid. Now I've grown up and become a dumb adult and I still love it. I watch it differently now than I did all those years ago. I grew up with the edited and dubbed version, which is great for kids, but if you are looking for the true series, try and get your hands on some DVDs with Japanese language options. I find them much better. But that's just me. No matter how you want to watch it, I would just advise you to sit down, switch off, and enjoy.

With the upcoming Dragon Ball live action movie, I can only hope that it is successful enough to warrant a few sequels, as a Dragon Ball Z movie would be awesome. I would not expect it to quality cinema, just a whole lot of fun.

There is also a sequel to the series, known as Dragon Ball GT, which is not based on the work of Akira Toriyama. Worth a look if you're a fan, but don't expect it to be as good as Dragon Ball Z

10/10